Dog therapy program expands local services

By Sara MilledgeSpecial to The Tuscaloosa News

Sunday

Dec 16, 2012 at 12:01 AM

TUSCALOOSA | Scottie is a good dog. The 3 1⁄2-year-old golden retriever sighs, lying contentedly on his side. All the while, a flock of 5-year-old girls swirls around him, brushing his fur in the wrong direction, covering him with blankets and jamming one of his big paws into a fuzzy bunny slipper.

TUSCALOOSA | Scottie is a good dog. The 3 1⁄2-year-old golden retriever sighs, lying contentedly on his side. All the while, a flock of 5-year-old girls swirls around him, brushing his fur in the wrong direction, covering him with blankets and jamming one of his big paws into a fuzzy bunny slipper. Later, Scottie sits patiently as a little boy in a big wheelchair tugs hard on his ears. Scottie ignores the straps, snaps and buckles that hold the boy upright. He ignores the thick, clear plastic tray that locks the boy into place. He ignores the happy squeals and grunts that escape the boy's throat where words should be. He ignores what most people can't.After serving as a therapy dog for nearly two years, Scottie is an old pro. He and his handler, Jackie Jackson, have been volunteering in Tuscaloosa with the Birmingham-based nonprofit organization Hand in Paw since December 2010. For almost a year and half, Jackie and Scottie comprised the only Hand in Paw team in the Tuscaloosa. Recently, Audrey, a 3-year-old whippet, and her handler Laura Beasley, joined them. They are at Rise School, a program on the University of Alabama's campus that aids young children with physical disabilities. Scottie and Audrey can be found there every Thursday morning. Audrey is much more timid than Scottie; she is still pretty new at this. She is shaped like a small greyhound, and her skinny frame trembles as she burrows her snout into Beasley's chest. A young girl with an electric blue cane in each hand grins as she spots Audrey. She tosses the canes aside and begins crawling toward the dog. She is too excited to waste time on her unsteady gait. The little girl strokes Audrey gently. “Sit down,” she says, patting the patch of carpet beside her. “She won't bite.”Founded in 1996, Hand in Paw serves a number of facilities throughout central Alabama. Tuscaloosa is one of the program's newest areas. Right now, Jackson and Scottie, and Beasley and Audrey are the only two teams in the city. Jackson said that the program expanded to Tuscaloosa at the request of DCH Regional Medical Center in late 2010. She and Scottie began by visiting the cancer center at the hospital weekly. Rise School was added in the summer of 2012 and the teams began to visit the DCH pediatric unit in early November. Kim Crenshaw, director of volunteers for the organization, said there are five teams in training in the Tuscaloosa area. In only a few short months, Hand in Paw will more than double its presence in the city. Today, Crenshaw said, Hand in Paw is one of the largest and most advanced animal-assisted therapy organizations in the country. While Tuscaloosa is home to only two teams, Hand in Paw boasts more than 120 volunteer teams of handlers and animals, all of whom have undergone extensive professional training. While most include dogs, Hand in Paw has also had teams with cats, guinea pigs, rabbits and even a miniature horse. Liz Wilson, interim director of the nonprofit, said that goats, llamas and pigs would also qualify as Hand in Paw therapy animals. “We would love to have them, too,” she said.Wilson said that Hand in Paw is primarily a human services agency. “Our mission is to help people,” she said. “We just do so through animals.”At Rise, Beasley kneels down to adjust Audrey's lemon yellow Hand in Paw neckerchief. “She knows she's at work when she's wearing her bandanna,” Beasley said. “It's like her uniform.”Jackson agrees, adding that she and Scottie have a ritual they complete the evening before each Hand in Paw therapy visit. It begins when Jackson irons the yellow shirt that identifies her as a Hand in Paw volunteer, the perfect match to Scottie's bandana embroidered with his name. Jackson irons it, too. With the iron and board in sight, Scottie races to the bathroom and finds the bathtub and his toothbrush. A bath, clean teeth and freshly trimmed nails are required before Scottie or any of the Hand in Paw animals can assist with a therapy session. Scottie has had to endure much more than frequent grooming in order to call himself a Hand in Paw therapy dog. He and Jackson have worked hard to earn the title of Hand in Paw team member. Each team undergoes thorough training that can last anywhere from three to six months, depending on the readiness of the individual team. Crenshaw said that teams are able to pause and resume training at any point in order to work on obedience. The only thing that will disqualify an animal from becoming part of a therapy team is aggression toward people or other animals. “(The animals) just need to be well-behaved and enjoy being with people,” Crenshaw said.After passing a basic obedience course, Scottie underwent a temperament screening to ensure that he was a good fit for the program. Crenshaw said that these screenings include activities such as brushing and hugging to make sure that the animal will not shy away from intense human interaction.After the screening, Jackson attended a Hand in Paw orientation meeting. Then, she and Scottie were ready for their first shadow visit in the field with a trained team. The next step was the most intense — Jackson attended an eight-hour workshop, just for the human members of the teams, sponsored by Pet Partners, formerly the Delta Society. At the workshop, Jackson learned how to correctly read Scottie's emotions, such as stress or over-excitement. Like all Hand in Paw teams, Jackson and Scottie registered with Pet Partners and passed the organization's volunteer evaluation. Jackson then attended a three-hour Hand in Paw graduate class. Then, she and Scottie underwent even more specific training, which catered to the needs of the individual community partners whom Hand in Paw serves. Finally, they were ready for a supervised visit in the field.Hand in Paw teams participate in animal-assisted therapy sessions in 80 facilities across central Alabama, with 60 more on the waiting list. The teams work with three distinct programs, each of which targets the special needs of the individual community partners. Wilson said that the largest and most requested program is Petscription, which works primarily with health-based institutions, such as hospitals. Petscription teams also provide animal-assisted therapy to people in women's shelters, substance abuse programs, physical therapy centers and mental health facilities. “It's brightening people's days toward a more advanced, goal-driven direction,” Wilson said about the Petscription program. She added that the animals are used as a reward, as well as a motivational tool. Patients can also interact with the animals as a part of their actual physical therapy and recovery. They work to improve motor skills and range of motion by brushing the animal or throwing a ball, even by putting a bow in the animal's fur. The patients who are working on regaining speech give the animals commands. Those who are learning to walk again do so with a therapy dog by their side.“It's just more fun,” Wilson said. “They forget that they're working at all.”She added that, for people in hospitals in particular, the Hand in Paw animals spread good cheer.“It's hard to put a value on what it does,” Wilson said. “If I had a loved one in the hospital, I can't think of anything better than sending them a visit from a pet. It's priceless.”The Sit, Stay, Read program is the organization's second largest. These teams work primarily with elementary school children, who are visited by the same Hand in Paw team each week. Wilson said that the program's success is based on repetition; the children build a relationship with both the handler and animal, which helps to take some of the pressure off reading aloud. “The idea is making the child think it's fun and special,” Wilson said. “They look forward to seeing the pet and the person, then they look forward to reading.”Wilson added that Sit, Stay, Read is not a tutoring program. “(The teams) are really just there to be (the child's) buddy and to be supportive,” she said. The third program, Pawsitive Living, is the organization's most distinctive. “It's unique to Hand in Paw in that the founder, Beth Franklin, and a licensed clinical social worker wrote the 12-week curriculum,” Wilson said.The teams work alongside a group leader with a background in counseling to use animals to encourage at-risk children and teens to open up about human issues. “For example, the lesson might be about stereotypes about dogs, and the kids will be asked, ‘What kinds of names have you been called?' ” Wilson said. Wilson added that Pawsitive Living works to promote empathy and responsibility toward all living things. “It's designed to prevent future neglect by teaching compassion,” she said. Crenshaw said that the knowledge of the benefits of animal-assisted therapy is growing. “But,” she added, “we certainly don't recommend that people replace formal therapy with animal-assisted therapy.”For Wilson, the lessons that animals teach humans are undeniable. In particular, she has been touched by the unconditional way animals love people, regardless of appearance. She gave the example of a patient in a burn unit. “Most people would cringe a little, but a dog is going to go up to that person, wag its tail, sit in their lap and love them,” she said.Wilson and Crenshaw agree that the Hand in Paw volunteers, like Jackson and Beasley, are the heartbeat of the organization. “They have incredible stories,” Wilson said. “About kids taking their first steps, saying their first words, alongside therapy dogs. Parents of children undergoing cancer treatment will tell (volunteers) that, instead of being scared on the way to the hospital, their child is wondering which dog will be there. A simple thing can be such a positive thing.”Crenshaw added that she is encouraged by the level of commitment of all of the volunteers, even in very difficult situations.“They do it even though sometimes it's heartbreaking,” she said. “They do it to bring a little bit of light to a bad situation.” With demand for Hand in Paw therapy teams growing, the program always needs more volunteers. “If they have an animal and have time to train,” Crenshaw said, “it's a wonderful, meaningful thing to do. It makes such a difference.” For Jackson and Scottie, the therapy visits are not just for the patients. The animals bring joy to the parents, teachers, caregivers and nurses who are often surrounded by sadness.“They say in the training sessions that you'll make a difference in someone's life,” Jackson said. “And then you think, ‘wow, it really happens.'”At Rise, Scottie and Audrey are done for the day. In the school's parking lot, Scottie performs a few of his many tricks, which include saying his prayers, for a couple picking up their infant daughter. The adults smile as broadly as the children. Jackson hands them a photo of Scottie dressed as a Crimson Tide football player, as she does for all of the people she and Scottie visit. For his hard work, Scottie is rewarded with two carrot slices and a good scratch behind the ear. Jackson removes the bandana from around his neck, and Scottie can finally give in to his one weakness — a ball.

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